Radio Nimnul
by Hereward the White
Summary: Nimnul has come up with another dastardly scheme, this time through the exploitation of the media of radio. Can he seriously take control of New York from a submarine? Can the Rangers stop him before he goes too far? R&R please.
1. Building a Future

_Discliamer: All characters in this fanfic belong to Disney studios, unless I come up with an extra while writing. The concept of this story comes from an episode of the BBC series 'The Goodies'._

It was a very typical night, no storms and no moon, and in a hillside dome, like that on observatories, Professor Nimnul was just completing his first stage plans for his next attempt to seize control of the world; or, failing that, at least New York. He put his pencil down, glared at his plans, and laughed manically.

"This is my greatest plan yet! It'll take a while, but I shall have control of Long Island before Christmas. Then I can extend my influence and the world will be at my feet before long. Discreet and devious, I'm bound to succeed this time!" He laughed some more; on cue, out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck down on the roof of his dome.

The next morning the sun shone bright, the daily activites of New York citizens carried on like any other day and the birds were singing, mainly over who would be nesting in which tree. Even the criminal element was running low, only meager pickpockets and drug dealers dared to operate, for the police were beginning to sit up and take notice. At the Rescue Ranger HQ everyone was taking it easy; Monty was busy preparing breakfast for everyone, comprising of waffles coated in (what else) cheese and a jug of coffee to go around. Gadget was outside of her workshop on this particular morning, but she hadn't been idle, she was hanging out the washing that Dale had left in the machine overnight. Chip also kept himself busy by setting the table, but Dale hadn't even got up yet.

"OK, Zipper," Monty told his insectoid friend, "Lemme show ya how to flip a good waffle." With that he slipped his adaquately-sized spatula under the waffle in the frying pan and tossed through the air, across the kitchen, landing it right in the middle of a plate. "Ya see," He continued, "The trick is to ensure that the waffle ain't gonna stick to the pan, ya must also apply just the right amount of flippin' power to gettit right on the plate." Zipper buzzed his approval.

Chip was giving the dining table the once-over by now, ensuring that it was all neat and tidy, when he heard a weary noise coming from a nearby doorway, he turned to see Dale in his nightshirt sleepily wandering in.

"Can I smell waffles?" Dale asked, looking towards his bunkmate; Chip just frowned and replied.

"Monty's making waffles, yes. And while you were snoring your head off I was laying the table!" Dale just gave Chip an innocent look and said.

"I didn't know you were a chicken after all this time." And he sniggered, then Gadget entered the room carrying an empty laundry basket.

"Um, Dale..." She addressed, Dale turned to her, clearly her voice woke him up like a pint of coke. "Could you try not to leave the washing machine on overnight in future?" She started off again, basket in paws.

"Of course, Gadget." He replied in a slightly soft voice, as she walked off Chip confronted him.

"You realise that, because of your idleness, she had to hang out the washing this morning." He exclaimed, grabbing Dale by the nightcap.

"Well, it was getting late." Dale replied as a reason to leave the washing machine running.

"If you didn't spend the whole afternoon watching TV, you could've had it all done by supper!" Chip then nudged him back towards their bedroom. "You'd better get changed, Dale, breakfast will be ready soon!" Dale waltzed off, disgruntled by Chip's attitude.

"I hope Monty won't add too much cheese." Gadget commented as she came back. "The last time he did I had nightmares about mousetraps." Chip remembered that time, yesterday morning she skipped breakfast and didn't leave her workshop until lunchtime.

"Monterey Jack's a good chef," He noted, "But he just can't stop putting cheese in everything." Gadget nodded knowingly, thinking that there should be a house rule about eating cheese after 20:00.

Breakfast lived up to expectations, although there was a feeling that maple syrup and cheese did not go. Afterwards everyone went about their more casual everyday affairs.

"Gadget," Chip addressed her as she started to exit the room, "When do you think the Rangerwing will be ready for a patrol?" Gadget paused for a moment and answered.

"Well, once I've applied the semi-automatic defensive peashooter and made a few adjustments to the wiring I think it should be ready by half past eleven." And with that she went out to deal with the Rangerwing.

Nimnul hadn't bothered too much about breakfast, he was too wrapped up in his latest scheme; he had only got 5 hours of sleep, having been working on his plans until 02:30, which meant he only got into bed by 03:00. Interestingly enough, he was humming to himself as he wrote something on a piece of paper; although he was used to late nights he had only recently started thinking less about breakfast, which is a big mistake if you're up all night with your brain going flat out.

"It's got to be something that's persuades people to listen to it." He muttered as he wrote. He wasn't just writing on one piece of paper, in the bin behind him there was an arragement of screwed up pieces of paper.

It wasn't until 11:38 that he was satisfied with the result, he began to recite what he had written.

"Bom babum babum bom, diddle dee deedee. Wherever you are, whatever you do, listen to Radio Nimnul!" He paused and then added. "Ting." He placed his jingle to the side, looked at the clock and said. "I'll work on the boat after lunch."

By now Chip and Gadget were test flying the modified Rangerwing, which was also thought of as a patrol, Gadget's adjustments had increased the efficiency of the propellors by 20 percent.

"Look!" Chip announced, spying a pickpocket reaching for the hip pocket of an honest businessman (if such a thing exists).

"I'll try and deter him with the peashooter." Gadget told him, bringing the Wing into a dive. As it dived she pulled a lever causing a bamboo shoot to protrude from the underside of the Wing, she had looked up a deliberately crooked sight in front of the pilot's seat to achieve an accurate aim and still fly the craft without crashing into a wall or something. Just as the pickpockets got his hand at the rim of the businessman's pocket Gadget opened fire, the compact scraps of paper would not cause any injury but their speed made the pickpocket draw his hand away rapidly. He sneaked off, grimacing with pain, as Gadget pulled the Wing up, almost going at a one-in-one gradient with the nearest building.

"Nice work, Gadget." Chip congratulated her, tipping his hat to her in a subtle way.

"Gee, thanks Chip." She replied, she took in stock of the voltmeters for the propellors. "I think we should return to HQ, Chip, the electrical input for the propellors does not look promising." While Chip knew that the details would be too technical for him, he knew when he was in a potentially dangerous scenario.

"OK Gadget," He replied, "It should be close to lunchtime anyhow." It did Chip some good, knowing that a troublemaker had been stopped in his tracks, so he wasn't too disappointed by the fact that the patrol had been relatively short.

"I suspect," Gadget said, "That the batteries were about due for charging anyway, the dive must've caused a drain on them, especially with the abrupt pull-up afterwards. I just wasn't sure how close we'd get to that apartment." Chip just nodded, the steep climb had left his stomach at ground level. "Is Monty cooking again?" She asked him apprehensively.

"Yeah," Chip answered, "But I asked Dale to make sure he didn't go too far with the cheese." While this gave Gadget some comfort, Chip wasn't sure if he believed his own words.

Kirby and Muldoon were on a stake out, which was simply sitting in their car, hidden in an alley, while waiting for common street crime to pass by. It had been a quiet morning, mostly comprised of them talking about how to deal with the wives when they got home that evening; they were just about to start their lunch when a man in a black sweater and blue jeans ran up to the window on Muldoon's side and banged on it.

"Any trouble, sir?" Muldoon asked him as he wound down his window.

"I've been assaulted!" The man exclaimed, he sounded out of his tree. "I was walking along, minding my own business," He lied, "When I spotted an old friend of mine up ahead. I just reached out to place my hand on his shoulder in a friendly greeting when, out of nowhere, bits shot straight at my hand, like someone was firing a peashooter at me!"

"And were they?" Muldoon asked, he found the story about greeting a friend plausible, but he found the peashooter to be a bit out to lunch.

"They struck me as though they came from some sort of firearm!" The man answered. "I can't think anyone could blow a peashooter that rapidly!"

"Well," Muldoon inquired, "Was they anyone else around?"

"All I could see," The man answered, "Was a model airplane flying overhead, like a dive-bomber it was!" Kirby piped up.

"Can you get model airplanes that shoot like real ones?" Muldoon turned to his colleague and answered.

"Don't be silly, Kirby. That would be a public health hazard, no company would be dumb enough tobuild one." He looked at the man suspiciously. "I'm sure that Sgt. Spinelli would be more than happy to listen to your story and will make inquires regarding this _unorthodox_ assault." The man caught on to Muldoon's tone of voice and spotted the look in his eye.

Half a minute later Muldoon and Kirby got the lunches out.

"These hobos will drink anything that'll help them forget about their miserable lives." Kirby commented, Muldoon nodded in agreement.

12:29, Nimnul was now working on yet another part of his scheme to take over New York, and maybe the world.

"My last scheme was brilliant, amost flawless, but everyone just laughed!" He growled to himself. "I've only got so many dollars, look's like I'll have to go on another crime spree before I can commence with my brilliant plan." He carried on with his designs.


	2. Launching Radio Nimnul

After a rather cheesy dinner Gadget decided that she'd make supper, she also suggested to Monty that the cheese he includes in traditionally non-cheesy dishes ought to be more of a tabletop condiment than an actual ingredient.

"Come on, Gadget-luv," He replied, "Yer can't make Maccaroni Cheese without cheese, you know."

"Of course, Monty." She answered. "But, golly, you don't have to use cheese as an ingredient for _everything_!" Chip and Dale nodded in agreement.

"Well," Monty retorted, "I am a cordon bleu cook."

'More like a chowder brain cook.' Dale thought, but was careful enough not to let these thoughts become words.

"I'll just go and have a wash." Gadget told them. "I don't want supper to taste of Earl Grey." That was understandable, she'd spent the better part of the afternoon investigating samples of Nimnul's last attempt to extract great amounts of wealth.

"That was one case that I'll remember." Dale commented. "Nimnul could split your sides with his jest."

"Too right, mate," Monty added, "I knew he was a mad scientist, but I didn't think even _he_ would be stupid enough to try and market waterproof _teabags_!" All of the four remaining Rangers cracked up in the memory, Nimnul seriously thought he could gain wealth by conning people with a simple invention, but he had apparantly never heard of the old joke that he had now lived.

"But, why would Gadget want to look at them?" Dale asked.

"Because she said that the waterproof covering might contain something that could help us." Chip answered.

"I think old Nimnul's criminal activity's really gone downhill now!" Monty commented.

In his lab Nimnul had just finished his designs for his new machine, he laughed some more.

"My pirate radio station is ready for construction. No one would suspect that a submarine would operate as a radio station, but a radio mast can easily be mistaken for a buoy." He laughed again, he now considered what to do about supplies, namely where to steal them from and how. He looked to the remains of old robots he built for inspiration.

'It's most intruiging,' Gadget thought to herself and she cleaned herself up, 'His sealing agent on the teabags is made of a benzene-chloride solution designed to dry in air; he must've used a vacuum environment to make, store and apply the substance. So what can _I_ use this for?' Later on, while she was drying herself, still contemplating the use of benzene-chloride. 'It disrupted weather patterns when he showed them outdoors on a windy day. But what use is an aerophobic solution that disrupts weather? How can I make use of something affected by the w...?' Something occured to her just then.

After Gadget had prepared supper she was already working on designs for a new invention, Chip and Dale found the food to be less oily than normal for Gadget since she had a proper wash, of course Monty didn't notice, he took on Gadget's idea and had added a bowl of grated cheese to the condiments on the table, which went from full to three-quarters full in the space of a few minutes.

"I don't think any of you get enough sleep." Chip commented, Monty and Dale looked at him with a look of bewilderment on their faces. "Well, Zipper seems to get enough sleep," Zipper smiled when he heard this, "But the both of you," He indicated, "And Gadget don't appear to get enough sleep."

"Aw, come on," Monty commented, "I always go to bed at the same time as you." Chip nodded and said.

"Yep, but you can't seem to get to sleep properly, can you." Monty looked a little crest-fallen.

"Yer right, Chipper." He replied. "I can't seem to understand it. Last night I couldn't get to sleep until after Dale went off to bed."

"That was nearly midnight!" Dale commented, Chip's expression showed the opposite of surprise.

"Maybe it was the pilchards you had for supper that time." He suggested, Monty showed no sign of agreement.

"There's nothing wrong with having pilchards for yer supper!" He told Chip, who showed no sign of defeat.

"But pilchards in cheese sauce." Chip commented. "It can't be good for you! Having cheese every night can't be good for you. It certainly doesn't do us any good." He indicated Dale, who nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, Chipper." Monty apologised. "But I'm just nuts about cheese!"

'So what else is new.' Dale thought to himself.

"Anyway," Chip continued, "Dale and Gadget just don't get enough sleep, staying up late all the time."

"Well yer can't blame Gadget," Monty commented, "When she's building something new she can barely break off!" Chip understood this, he seriously felt that he had to mention it though, for her own good. Dale, on the other hand, was a different matter; he was dependable when it came to the crunch, but he hardly did anything except watch TV and eat snacks nearly every evening.

The next day Nimnul was sneaking through the city streets, looking for anywhere that could supply him with the materials he needed for his Radio submarine. As he rounded a corner his eyes bugged out in surprised delight at seeing a large warehouse for storing essential car parts that get shipped off to MOT garages. He pulled out a rifle-sized ray gun with two settings, 'Heat' and 'Magnet'.

"This is Stan Blather with the 12 o'clock news." The news reporter announced, Chip had his full attention on the TV screen. "Earlier today someone broke into this warehouse," He indicated the warehouse behind him, "The only evidence available to the police is a hole in the wall with no sign of the use of explosives and various missing parts intended for cars."

"This has a familiar ring to it." Chip commented. "It looks like a case for the Rescue Rangers!" He rushed off to tell the others.

"This should be ready by tomorrow morning if I leave supper." Nimnul commented as he began to build his submarine on the shore below his dome lab, unaware that it would also consist of him working until 03:10 and skipping breakfast the next morning. He had persuaded a few simpletons from the nearest docks to help him in his project; they had dreams of working on radio and he needed them for their understanding of naval vessels.

Gadget flew the Rangers over to the looted warehouse in the Rangerwing, as they approached it was obvious that the police had sealed it off.

"OK guys," She announced, "We're going in for landing." She pulled the Wing down towards the roof of the warehouse.

"OK," Chip stated upon exiting the Wing after touchdown, "Zipper, can you find us a way in?" Zipper saluted, indicating a strong-will to help, he flew across the roof as Gadget pulled out two arms in case they ran into trouble.

"Err, Gadget-luv," Monty asked her, "Why did yer bring your old magno-ray?"

"All the parts that were stolen were too heavy for someone to carry on their own," She replied, "And the hole in the wall the news has shown appears to be too small for more than one person. I suspect that the thief used magnetism to carry objects too heavy to lift by himself, also the hole appears to have been cut open; it was too rough-edged to have been sawed or drilled through, so I think a high-energy laser beam was used." Monty looked bewildered. "I think that if the thief turns up again we can deflect the laser with metal pieces, steel and titanium and that sort of thing, but he'd be able to pull the metal away with a magnetic beam, so this should counter the effects of that beam." Zipper had returned by now and indicated for the Rangers to follow him.

Nimnul was so busy with his submarine that he hadn't considered what might happen if someone thoroughly investigated the robbery, he also considered his plan to be too subtle for anyone to catch him at it.

"Can I be the presenter?" Asked one of the men he hired.

"No, I wanna be the disc jockey!" Another insisted.

"No, me!" Said the first.

"No, me!" Said the second.

"QUIET!!!" Nimnul shouted at them. "You can take it in turns. One of you can be the presenter for a day while the other maintains the engines, then you can swap over the next day." They seemed to be pleased with the compromise. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm busy working on our broadcast schedule." This was half true; he was writing a broadcasting schedule, but he was also making more detailed plans on his ultimate ambition through this enterprise.

"This was a very neat robbery by the looks of it." Monty commented. "No fingerprints, no crumbling concrete, no nothing!" Chip as studying one of the empty shelves where a car part was stolen under his magnifying glass.

"Here's something!" He announced. "There are a few tiny scratches here." He told the others.

"As I thought." Gadget commented as she looked over his shoulder. "The parts were stolen by using magnetism to pull them off the shelves." She and Chip thought about that for the moment and realised who it could be. "There's only one criminal who'd steal things in this way, especially the sort of things that were stolen."

"NIMNUL!!!" They both said together, Dale nodded in understanding as to the sort of thefts Nimnul committed.

"What's he doing this time?" He commented.

"I'll need to take samples before I can get an idea of where he's working." Gadget told them. "But I suspect that it's something to do with how he broke in and stole the parts."

"A giant death ray," Chip commented, "Sounds like him." They waited while Gadget dashed through the warehouse gathering samples of this and that from wherever Nimnul had been.

The next day held little results from the samples, but it was clear that the parts stolen could not be used to build a death ray, which was some relief.

"Whatever he's up to," Gadget commented, "He's not building anything that relies on projecting electromagnetic energy." She thought for a while. "But he has stolen several engine rotors and primers, as though he wants to propel something really big or really fast." She went back to her workshop.

"At last!" Nimnul cried out. "My sub is completed!" He laughed manically. "All aboard men!" He announced. "It's time to get Radio Nimnul on the air!" They all piled into the submarine, Nimnul sealed the hatch and ordered the engines on.

The submarine ploughed into the water like a launching ship with several holes in the aft hull, Nimnul personally took the helm, steering the submarine through the coastal waters towards the 5-mile limit.

"Alright," He announced once he was certain that they were outside the 5-mile limit, "Time to get Radio Nimnul on air!" And he launched the radio buoy up to the surface, protruding a long aerial behind it, he laughed manically as he saw the positive signs on his radioscope.


	3. Just Add Parcels

'I can't make head nor tail out of this.' Gadget thought to herself as she studied the smaples from the warehouse. 'I can't see how Nimnul would commit a major crime with a propulsion system.' She looked back to what she had put together before investigating the robbery.

"Hey there, all you rock fans!" Came an unfamiliar voice over the Rangers' radio, Gadget had hooked it up a week ago from a personal stereo, Dale had just turned it on in search of rock 'n' roll music. "This is Radio Nimnul broadcasting on a bright and suny day, and the time now is 11:50." Dale jumped up in shock, the name struck home immediately. "And now it's time for some hot music and what better than the groovy sound of..." The voice paused.

On the submarine the disc jockey used hand gestures to indicate to his assistant that he needed a record to broadcast music. "...Than the groovy sound of..." He was handed a record and he read off side A. "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy!" He was disappointed upon finding that he was going to broadcast an Al Jolson song instead of something with strumming electric guitars.

"Hey, everyone!" Dale called out. "I think I've got a lead!" The rest of the Rangers came running into the living room, they were confused but confident that Dale actually had something important, 'Let Me Sing and I'm Happy' continued playing on the radio.

"What is it, Dale?" Chip asked him, Dale pointed to the radio and answered.

"Wait until the music stops and listen to what the jockey says _carefully_." They waited and over the radio came that voice again.

"Alright now, you snazzy music lovers, we have more music to delight you and we'll broadcast another great number in a minute." Then a duet came over the radio.

"Wherever you are, whatever you do, listen to Radio Nimnul!" Then a familiar voice was heard in the background over the radio.

"Ting." All the other Rangers gasped.

"They can't be serious!" Monty exclaimed.

"No, it's true." Gadget commented. "Nimnul was the one who said 'Ting'!"

"But what's Nimnul doing with his own radio station?" Chip rhetorically asked, it was bewildering as to why a megalomaniac would want to start a radio station.

"It's probably a cover of some kind." Gadget suggested. "Although I don't see what stealing propulsion systems and using radio has to do with his type of crime."

"It sounds like he's persuaded a few people to give him some help somehow." Dale supplied.

"Knowing him," Chip commented, "He probably used their hopes and dreams to get them to help him." The other Rangers all nodded in unison.

"OK," Announced the disc jockey, "Time for more music and what better than..." He looked to the assistant, who shook his head, they only had the Al Jolson record, the disc jockey turned the record over to side B and read. "My Mammy." And played the song. "Haven't you got any others?" He asked the assistant while the music played, which ensured they wouldn't broadcast their voices. The assistant shook his head. "We can't run on just one record, you know."

"Don't worry," The assistant replied, "Once we get going we'll get sponsors, who'll supply us with some dosh so they can get us to advertise their products and then we can buy another record with their donations." Nimnul had re-entered the room from his cabin.

"OK," He announced, "I've got us some back-up income here." He showed them his designs for another pirate business. "Our pcakage delivery service should really rake in the dollars. I call it 'Nimnul's Parcel Post'." He then told them about how it would run, two men worked the radio while the other two would go around running the delivery service.

"You didn't say anything about this!" One of the men complained.

"Don't worry." Nimnul replied. "I've nearly finished a self-service engine-bot to leave the running of the boat to itself, then we can start off with both the radio and the parcel post." He sat at the radio just as 'My Mammy' finished. "This is Professor Nimnul here and I would like to extend to you the offer of my new courtesy parcel post service, I can get your packages delivered swiftly and without error. Now Radio Nimnul will be off-air for lunch. Radio Nimnul, ting!"

Zipper buzzed something to Monty once Nimnul signed off.

"I don't think so, mate." Monty replied. "A leopard can't change his spots, so I doubt if Nimnul's actually gone straight."

"Especially after that robbery." Chip added.

"Engine parts aren't needed for a radio station," Gadget commented, "And I don't think you'd need truck rotor arms for parcel delivery. He's building up to something, like he's amassing enough of whatever he intends to use in his bigger crime." It was undoubted that Nimnul would commit small crimes to operate a big crime.

"Say," Dale suggested, "Do you think he intends to brainwash people over the radio?"

"No Dale," Gadget answered, "He would need to make his own music containing subliminal messages by reversing his speech in an octave tone to suggest an actual song; to do so he would need instruments to record the overlying music. By the sound of it he's only got the one record."

"And there have been no reports about music thefts." Chip added. "It sounds like he's trying to swindle people again. All the same, I think we should investigate."

"Well, where do we start?" Monty asked, Gadget took up her thinking posture.

"Well," She stated, "If I can home-in on his radio transmission we should be able to find where he's broadcasting from." The other Rangers knew that this would require her to invent something for the job. "On the plus side I've developed a harmonic oral transmitter." She stepped into her workshop for a few seconds and came out with something that looked like a megaphone. "By adapting the benzen-chloride adhesive from the waterproof teabags into a membrane within the horn we can speak into the mouthpiece here," She pointed to the small end, "And the vibrations from our speech are reconfigured by the membrane into human audio frequency, enabling us to communicate directly with humans should the need arise."

"Cool." Dale commented. "I've no idea what you've said about how it works, but what it does is amazing! It's like in the movie 'Hyperman 2' where hyperman uses an alien mouthpiece to speak to foreign people." Chip frowned at Dale's style of comparison.

"As for the radio tracking device," Gadget spoke up, "I've got some of the parts in my workshop, but I'll need a radio aerial, a computer chip and a few more wires."

"No worries, Gadget-luv," Monty said confidently, "I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say 'We'll get 'em for yer!'" Chip nodded in keen agreement while Dale took a few seconds to consider it before finally deciding to agree with Monty's suggestion, Zipper was also keen to help out as indicated by his nodding too.

"Golly, thanks, guys." Gadget replied. "But I'll need a computer chip the size of my palm to give you all an idea." Chip and Dale were willing to meet the requirement, but Monty was not so sure.

"Can yer get computer chips that small, love?" He asked her, Gadget nodded and said.

"There are computer chips in modern PCs smaller than that."

The next day two of Nimnul's _employees_ had gone ashore to perform the parcel delivery service, in spite of Gadget's suspicions they were not using any land vehicles, all they had to carry the parcels in were two large satchels between them. They dashed off all over New York, knocking on doors to see if they needed any parcels delivering and pinching a few parcels from normal delivery services. Back on the submarine they sorted all the parcels and then went off to deliver them. For second class post they sent them straight round to their destinations and then dashed off again, if there was no stamp they would leave it for last minute delivery while first class post got flash and style delivery.

They spent the whole day delivering several parcels, only having a quick light lunch, and by the end of the day they were completely knackered.

The Rescue Rangers had a fairly quiet day, no cases to be solved and Gadget was busy working on her tracking device. There was something new though, Monty was starting to put less cheese in his cooking, there was still some cheese added out of habit, but he nderstood that cheese was not everyone's cup of tea, so he just piled it onto his own meal.

"It looks like our talk a few days ago amounted to something." Chip said to Monty at dinner.

"Well," Monty replied, "I've been considering what yer said and I realised that cheese is alright as long as yer don't have too much." Chip smiled, but then frowned upon seeing Monty's plate. "Anyway, it leaves all the more for me." Chip just sighed, knowing all too well how deeply Monterey's cheese addiction went.

"Well," Gadget said to help break the ice, "I've almost finished the radio tracker, I just need to be sure of the elctrical supply."

"So," Chip said in the style of an inquiry, "We can start a search tomorrow, then." Gadget confirmed this, her keen acknowledgement lifted the spirits of the others. After they had finished their dinner Gadget immediately went back to the workshop to finish her tracking device while Dale, by his very nature, pumped onto the sofa and started flicking through the channels to see if there was a sci-fi movie on or something like that.


	4. Ship Ahoy!

The next morning the two employees of Radio Nimnul, who had been on the radio the day before, were now hauling parcels back to where the submarine was; a special tracking device ensured that Nimnul would partially surface the boat when they started to come close. Down in the studio section of the boat one of the other men had just finished playing 'My Mammy' for the radio.

"Yes everyone," He said into the microphone, "That was number one on Radio Nmnul! And now for number two," He turned the record over, "And, incidentally, number three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nine. 'Let Me Sing and I'm Happy!'" He felt the sensation of butterflies in his stomach, indicating that the sub was surfacing. The two who were on parcel duty stepped down from the hatch, one sealed the hatch and Nimnul got the sub into dive-mode. Once they were at optimal depth, like before the day's deliverymen came along, Nimnul emerged from the bow.

"Did you get my order?" He asked the deliverymen, one nodded and extracted a small, non-mail package from his coat and handded it to Nimnul. "This should attract more customers to the radio." He commented to all of his employees, he removed a record from the package and gave it to the man at the radio controls.

"Excuse me, Mr. Nimnul." One of the deliverymen announced as Nimnul headed back towards the bow. "Do you think you could help us sort this lot out?" Nimnul looked at all the parcels and answered.

"Oh no, I'm working on something really big! I don't have time for basic mail-sorting." And with that he walked out of the studio section of the boat.

Dale had just tuned into Radio Nimnul to give Gadget an idea of the wavelength to hunt for; the new presenter's voice came over the radio with the hint of 'Let Me Sing and I'm Happy' fading out.

"Ladies and gentlemen," He announced, "I'm pleased to inform you that we now have a great new selection of music and now we would like to please you with the cool tune of..." He hesitated as he read the name of the record, "...'A Walk in the Black Forest'." And some soft instrumental music came over the radio.

"Got it." Gadget announced as she attuned her tracking device with the radio's wavelengths. "I'm registering a short wave transmission, it's on the cuspt of microwave transmission, similar to that used in cellphones." This got everyone's attention.

"Where's Nimnul broadcasting from, then?" Chip asked her, Gadget fiddled with her tracking device a bit more before replying.

"I'm getting a response from North North-East, I can't specify the exact location unless I can get closer." Chip looked to the others, who nodded in unison with him and he remarked.

"Well then, looks like we'll have to get the Rangerwing out!" And then they all exclaimed.

"Rescue Rangers away!" And dashed out to the Wing.

The Rangerwing flew over New York City at 53mph, Monty was in the pilot's seat flying the Wing while Gadget sat next to him, keeping an eye on the tracking device.

"You think he's broadcasting from his lab, love?" Monty asked Gadget as he espied said lab in the distance, Gadget shook her head.

"No Monty," She answered, "The tracking device has shifted the trajectory to the North-East."

"He's moving?!?" Dale exclaimed in surprise.

"No Dale," Gadget replied, "The broadcast hasn't moved, we're just at a different orientation to it than before." Monty steered the Rangerwing towards the North-East and then noticed something that didn't add up.

"Gadget-luv," He informed her, "There's ote out here than the Pond!" Gadget looked up, then back at her tracker and said.

"According to this Nimnul's broadcasting from out at sea." Chip looked up from his vigil.

"How far out?" He asked her, Gadget fiddled a bit more with her tracker and was briefly stunned by the results.

"Just... over... 5 miles. Of course, he's set-up a _pirate_ radio station!" Dale started at hearing this.

"They don't sound like pirates." He commented. "They sound like ordinary blokes, aside from Nimnul of course." Chip bonked him on the head and said.

"Pirate radio stations aren't hosted by pirates, dummy! It's called pirate because it's unauthorised!" Gadget nodded and added.

"And it's outside the 5-mile limit. Five miles off-shore is the limit of US jurisdiction." She paused for a while as Monty flew out to sea. "Better turn back, Monty." She told him. "We won't find the radio boat in the Wing! We'll have to get closer to the water." Chip and Dale swallowed upon hearing this, concerned as to exactly how close they'd get, while Monty uncertainly pulled the Wing around and flew it straight back to headquarters. Two figures were stuggling a jog up the beach below them.

Back at Rescue Rangers HQ Chip piped up just as the Rangerwing's power was disconnected.

"Gadget," He asked, "Why can't we use the Wing to find Nimnul? I mean pirate radio stations are easily seen with their radio masts." Gadget looked back at him and asnwered.

"Golly Chip, don't you realise that Nimnul might be using a new kind of pirate radio station? He might've built one designed to be discreet so the coastguard wouldn't even consider the possibiltiy of it being a pirate radio station." Dale seemed to catch on to this.

"Can you broadcast radio from a submarine?" He asked her, she turned to look straight at him and replied.

"Not while it's completely submerged. You can make a radio transmission to and from a submarine if it's radio aerial is above the surface of the water." They all headed into the tree, all of them going over the concept of Nimnul using a submarine as a pirate radio station. Gadget immediately headed for her workshop to begin her designs for a new submarine to help them locate Nimnul's radio station while Dale went towards the TV to catch an old sci-fi movie being broadcasted, the sort made in the early to mid 1970s.

"Come on, Gadget-luv," Monty encouraged her at dinner, "Have a bit of cheese. A mouse can't go without cheese, yer know." She looked up from her plate as he held out the bowl of cheddar to her, fighting the urge to scoff the lot.

"No thanks, Monty." She replied. "I've made some studies with regards to the morinae cult of cheese and I've hypothesised that cheese has no more a dietry requirement for us as it does for humans." She tucked into her dinner for a few more seconds and added. "Now I'm more puzzled by the general sense in most mice that cheese is a must have." Monty helped himself to a bit more cheddar, leaving the bowl half-full, and commented on this.

"I can't argue with them," He said, "I can't think of anything more satisfying than cheeeeese!" He immediately tucked in as the smell of semi-melted cheese permeated from his plate.

"It amazes me how he can handle cheese in anything." Dale muttered to Chip. "That's probably the last thing I'd put on a gammon steak."

"Second last," Chip replied with equal volume to his voice, "I wouldn't dare put _salt_ on gammon."

The next day Gadget had flown the Rangerwing to a scrapheap not far from the shoreline they'd flown over the day before; while she was busy assembling a new aquatic vehicle within the tidal zone of the shore just outside the scrapheap the other Ranger were keeping themselves occupied. Zipper kept his eye on the tracker that Gadget had propped up against a wall for him, making sure that Nimnul was staying in once place; Chip and Dale were playing draughts using a few nick-nacks they salvaged from the scrapheap and Monty was haivng a quick kip in the Wing.

"I'm not taking any chances," Gadget muttered as she tinkered with something in her submarine, "This should deter any aggressive marine life we encounter."

It was a few more minutes before Gadget completed her submarine, she waved to the others indicating that everything was ready. Chip went to the Wing to rouse Monterey while Dale went over to fetch Zipper and the tracker.

"It seems he hasn't budged an inch, Gadget." Dale told her as he handed the tracker over to her.

"Golly," She exclaimed, "He must be very confident."

"Or very stupid." Dale added, Gadget made a light giggle and commented.

"Knowing him, it's probably both." She climbed down the hatch into the sub with Zipper and Dale following close behind, Dale popped his head out of the hatch a few seconds later and called out.

"Come on, guys! Everything's ready." Chip and Monterey dashed out of the scrapheap and clambered into the hatchway, the tide was already lapping at the bow of the boat, a simple set of makeshift tracks made a launching pier.

"Crickey!" Monty exclaimed as he squeezed through the hatchway. "This is one bonzer of a boat, Gadget." Chip and Dale nodded in agreement.

"So much in so little time." Chip commented. "How do you do it, Gadget?" Gadget smiled gladly and answered.

"Being so close to a scrapheap, I could find all the equipment I needed. It's also designed for launch at high tide so I had time to think about what devices would be required for this endevour." They only had to wait another ten minutes before Gadget announced. "Tidal forces reversing; standby everybody, I'm commencing launch!" She pulled a lever and a metal flap just under the bow of the boat lifted up and into the main body, and the submarine began sliding down the launching pier and into the water.

"Rescue Rangers away!" They all exclaimed. The now outgoing tide steadily pulled the boat away from the shore, Gadget kept her eye on a gauge that registered their speed, occasionally she would glance at another gauge used for measuring the depth of the water below them. The sub's hatch was still above the water, a small pen cartridge (the sort used in ballpens) functioned as a makeshift funnel, supplying the Rangers with fresh sea air.

After a few mintues Gadget pulled a gear and a low hum came from the stern of the boat, a small propellor at the back began to turn, accelarating the sub into deeper waters.

"Okay Monty," Gadget announced, "Seal the air funnel." Monty took a second to register this and applied a small metal clip to the bottom end of the said funnel, taking the initiative he also pulled the funnel down, thusly decreasing the drag on the sub. Gadget pushed the helm down, causing the sub to dive deeper.

After several minutes, with Gadget steering the sub and changing the depth at which it swam through the water, she suddenly turned the propellor off.

"Um, Gadget," Chip informed her nervously, "The humming's stopped." Gadget turned to him and said.

"I know, Chip. Nimnul might hear us approaching if we use the propellor." All the Rangers were bewildered by this.

"How can we catch him without being able to move?" Chip asked her.

"Golly Chip," She answered, "Haven't you ever heard of a caterpillar?" The Rangers were still surprised.

"What have caterpillars got to do with submarines?" Dale asked her, she turned roudn to look at all of them and answered.

"A caterpillar is a hyrojet engine for submarines." She turned back and flicked a few switches, then a new glomping sound came from both sides of the boat.

Some time later Gadget put some makeshift headphones on and pushed a button, she indicating to the others to keep quiet. She listened for a while, continually steering the boat, before she heard a stable hum that was occasionally accompanied with a fizzing sound, like radio interferance.

"I've got him." She muttered to the others.


	5. Cat's Out of the Bag

Gadget carefully steered her submarine up to the starboard side of Nimnul's radio sub, her eyes were focused on the hull of his sub in search of a hatchway that the Rangers could infiltrate. There were panels here and there on the starboard hull, but none of them could be used to enter the radio sub. She began to steer round the bow to check the port side when Dale came up to her and said.

"Hey Gadget, there are some doors over there." He pointed to the lower part of the bow, Gadget looked at them and answered.

"Dale, I will not enter through _those_ doors unless I had no other choice." She steadily circled round the submarine in search of a suitable entrance, but no panel was adequete to enter through, they were all either too small for her sub or they would let the water in too easily, she had even checked the bottom and top. The hatchway was considered, but it would've let a lot of water in. "Golly," She exclaimed as she circled round to the bow, "It looks like we have only one choice." She carefully steered her sub into alignment with Nimnul's, bow facing bow. "We'll have to enter via the torpedo tubes." All the other Rangers gasped in shock, Gadget moved the sub forwards towards the starboard torpedo tube, Chip and Dale were nervous about this maneuvour as they feared that if they didn't hit the door they would bump into a torpedo. "Okay Monty," Gadget called out as she held the sub half a foot away from the door, "Activate the magnetic infiltrator!" Monty looked around him and said.

"Where is it?" Gadget looked back to him, pointed to a red lever in the ceiling and said.

"That lever, pull towards you." Monty did so and something that looked like a magnet-and-key combination protruded from the bow of Gadget's submarine, a special wheel hidden away under the console operated the extension that the device was attached to; Gadget whirled this wheel in an anti-clockwise direction and the device moved forward to the torpedo tube door. It was only half an inchaway when it stopped, the wheel wouldn't go any further; Gadget took the helm and carefully advanced the sub towards the door, making the device come into contact with the door producing a faint clang, no one on board would think much of it as it was mistaken for someone moving. Gadget flicked a switch and then began to spin a smaller wheel above the one she operated earlier, this made the device rotate on the door, causing it to slide open. Gadget withdrew it once the door was halfway open, the water pressure finishing the job. She moved the sub forward into the torpedo tube, once inside she turned off the caterpillar and started the propellor again.

On board Nimnul noticed a torpedo tube open, annoyed by this (and putting it down to frequent malfunctions in many of his inventions) he immediately activated the switch to close it again.

Gadget knew that the torpedo tube door would close behind them, she also knew that Nimnul would not think too much of it as he had never seen any of her aquatic vehicles. She propelled her sub deeper into his sub, keeping an eye for the torpedo loading mechanism.

The Rangers navigated their way through the radio sub's service ducts, peeping through air vents here and there to see if anyone was within the rooms they serviced. It took them a while before Zipper frantically waved them over to another air vent, they peeped through to see a man they didn't recognise operating the radio, 'My Mammy' was coming to a close on the record.

"The time is twenty-past four in the afternoon," The man said into a microphone, "And you're listening to Radio Numnul!" Then he turned the record over for 'Let Me Sing and I'm Happy'; they felt the submarine rise and then saw two more men come down from the hatchway with large mail bags, then they felt the submarine sink again. "Why can't we get another record?" The man on the radio complained to the others, one of them answered.

"We've no time for shopping. We've got all these parcels to deliver." The other man with the bags virtually lost his bottle.

"Look at that," He cried out as he observed all the parcels that now littered thr floor, "HUNDREDS of them!"

"Golly," Gadget muttered as she watched them struggle with all the parcels, "Nimnul's got these poor guys broadcasting pirate radio _and _delivering parcels."

"I know he does illegal things," Chip commented, "But it surprises me to find him doing two at exactly the same time."

"Probably trying to get money again." Dale suggested, the other Rangers nodded in agreement and then saw the man on the radio removing the finished record and applying a second one while he said into the microphone.

"This is a service announcement. Owing to staff shortages we are sorry to say that Nimnul's Delivery Service has been forced to close down; we'll try to get the parcels we have delivered to you as soon as possible, but please don't send us any more." Then he played an instrumental piece. The Rangers now fumbled with the vent to open it and jumped down into the room just in time to see Nimnul enter wearing what looked like an SA uniform.

"I've just been listening to the radio." He told the men sternly, then he grabbed one by the shirt and hauled him down to his eye-level. "What do you mean by closing the parcel service?!?" The man stuttered as he answered.

"W...w...w...we just c...can't cope w...w...with the..." Nimnul cut him off as he released him.

"I'll tell you why you shut it down." He then pushed him steadily across the room. "Because you are a lazy, worthless, incompetent little monkey. What are you?!?"

"I'm a lazy, worthless, incom..." He started to respond in fear, but Nimnul cut him off again.

"That no excuse!" He shouted at him, another man tried to reason with him.

"Mr. Nimnul, we can't manage all these..." He said, but Nimnul once again cut him off.

"Stand aside, henchmen." He said as he took the needle off the record. "This is your leader speaking." The men gasped, but the Rangers weren't really surprised by his words. "It has been put about by dirty socialist pig-dogs that Nimnul's parcel service is shutting down. This is a LIE!" He thumped the table and continued. "Our grand parcel service gallently continues to operate with maximum effeciency! These are dark times, there is the stench of left-wing sloppiness in the air. But we will get your parcels through and I pledge that I... your _leader_... will lead you to a new and better world!" He paused and in that same menacing tone. "And now..." Then it dropped into a clerical tone, "'A Walk in the Black Forest'" And he put the record back on.

"Mr. Nimnul," One of the men said with a tone of apallment, "You can't just declare yourself leader! That's..." He hesitated as he realised what he was about to say, "That's _piracy_!" Nimnul slinked over to another table and said.

"Piracy as you've never seen it before." He held up a diagram he had made for all to see, the Rangers had moved behind the radio desk to get a good look at what was going on. "These are great machanical moles to dig beneath New York." He pointed to what looked like corkscrews on a map of New York state before indicating a set of submarine silhouettes. "These are copies of this very sub for full pulling-force. The mechanical moles will tunnel under the stretch of water here and beneath New York City and the neighbouring countryside. And then the big push!" Everyone else in the room was bewildered.

"What for?" One of the men asked.

"I intend," Nimnul announced in his classic manic way, "To tow the whole of Long Island _outside_ the 5-mile limit! Then I shall take over as leader of a pirate state." The Rangers did everything they could to prevent themselves laughing out loud at the idea.

"You're barmy," Said another man, "It can't be done."

"Oh, yes it can." Nimnul retorted slyly.

"It can't." The man replied.

"Can!" Nimnul barked.

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"Can't!" The record stopped and the man who was there before dashed over and announced.

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you're listening to Radio Nimnul." Then the man who had been assisting him before Nimnul made his crack-brained announcement joined him at the desk and both sang.

"Wherever you are, whatever you do, listen to Radio Nimnul!" Then Nimnul leaned over and said.

"Ting." Then he started the argument again. "I see," He said at last, "Drop the opportunity of a lifetime, will you. Very well, go on and get back to your petty boats and leave me to my work." The men knew when they were being sacked and they were being sacked. "Get out!" Nimnul barked as they slowly made their way to the hatch, the sub rose again.

"I've seen enough." Chip whispered. "Let's get back to our sub." All the Rangers nodded and slinked away while Nimnul went to the helm.

"Today, the radio." Nimnul mused to himself. "Tomorrow, the World!"

The Rangers calmbered back into their submarine as Nimnul steered his 180 degrees while the rowboat used by the men headed back for shore. As Monty sealed the hatch the sub surged, Gadget saw a mechanical arm grab the sub and stick into the torpedo tube.

"Everyone," She announced, "Strap in!" Chip immediately took the seat next to her while Monty and a reluctant Dale seated themselves in the back while Zipper improvised and stuck himself in Monterey's belt. Suddenly there was a woosh of spray and the sub lurched forward at an astonishing rate of knots. "Automatic Torpedo Launching System." Gadget struggled to say as the G-Force thrust her back in her seat.

"Probably..." Chip suggested, "To stop... the other men... spilling... the beans." A few seconds later they all gasped for breath as the G-Force stablised.

"There they are!" Gadget cried out as they saw the hull of a boat rushing towards them, she quickly steered to port, narrowly missing the rowboat and found her sub still shooting through the water.


	6. Towing New York

Gadget made sure that everyone remained strapped in while she hurriedly made some calculations on an A5 sheet of paper with a piece of graphite from a broken pencil. By time she was finished Chip had already seen the bottom of the sea coming into focus through the submarine's visor.

"Golly," Gadget exclaimed, "Hold on tight, everybody! We're gonna beach!"

"Oh, goody!" Dale chimed excitedly. "I love going to the beach." Gadget sighed and said.

"No Dale, I mean we're gonna run aground." The smile on Dale's face changed to an expression of fear.. "Fortunately, we're decelarating rapidly now, so we should have no damage." A few seconds passed while the Rangers registered what she said, their expressions of fear intensified.

Nimnul was keeping the hatchway above the surface of the sea now and he was steering it clsoer to the shoreline, to well within the 5-mile limit.

"With one of the most prosperous cities under my control," He declared, "I shall be able to assemble an armada of radio subs and tow more of the US outside the 5-mile limit. Then I shall take command of America's superb military forces and bring the rest of the world to it's knees!" He laughed manically again as he left the helm to study the coastline of Long Island.

The Rangers crawled along the beach away from Gadget's submarine, the grounding of it knocked the wind of them, but Gadget was satisfied with the negative report on damage to the submarine, although Dale was rather worried by this until Gadget told him what a negative report meant. After a few more minutes they got their breath back and were able to stand on two feet again.

"Come on," Chip announced, "Back to the boat." All the Rangers gasped at his instructions. "We've gotta stop Nimnul before he goes too far!" Monterey and Dale looked out over the waves to where the sub had showed itself while Gadget fumbled with the tracking device.

"It's gone!" Dale declared, Zipper scratched his head in Dale's direction while making a short buzz of an inquiry. "The boat, it's not there." Dale continued, Gadget nodded as she studied the info on the tracker.

"Oh dear," Chip groaned, "What's he doing now?" Dale looked down the beach, smirked, nudged Chip and said, pointing.

"Look over there." The Rangers saw a chain attached to a landing post, following the line of the chain into the sea they saw Nimnul at the hatchway to his radio sub, froth close to the shore indicated that he had his propellors going at full throttle while he got a sheet and pole out as a makeshift sail.

"Trying to tow Long Island away, single-handed." Chip sighed in an amused tone. "It's futile." Gadget strolled up to him brandishing her bilingual megaphone.

"Give it up, Nimnul!" She called out to him, with the volume enhancer activated on the megaphone, which both enabled Nimnul to hear her and understand what she was saying. "You're wasting your time!" Nimnul had put his sail up and was now getting some over-sized oars from within the sub.

"Go home, Nimnul!" Chip cried through the megaphone, Gadget took the megaphone in turn and called out.

"Go on, go home!" She paused for moment and added. "You can have a mug of cocoa if you do." Then Dale took the megaphone and said, in an amused tone.

"Or maybe a cup of tea." Followed by clear sniggering.

"I'll show you, rodents." Nimnul growled, observing the figures on the shoreline. "No one can stop me now!" Gadget took the megaphone as Nimnul put all his effort into rowing away from the shore.

"You can't tow away the whole of New York!" She called out. "That's flying in the face of nature!" To which, Nimnul paused from rowing, stood up so the whole of his upper body was visible and shouted back.

"What do I care about nature! I'm sick of everyone ruining my plans, calling me mad and poking fun at my body! I'll show 'em, I'll you all! I'll change the face of the Earth! I'm going to put New York in the Bahamas!" Chip took the megaphone and said, in a rather surprised tone.

"You've gone completely mad!"

"You take that back, flat-face!" Nimnul replied.

"No sale," Chip replied, "You're loony!" Monty took the megaphone now and shouted.

"You megalomaniac!"

"I'm not!" Nimnul responed, to which Dale joined Monty in the use of Gadget's megaphone and they chanted.

"You're a megalomaniac! You're a megalomaniac!"

"I'm not!" Nimnul shouted, now throwing a tantrum. "I'm not! I'...!" Suddenly bubbles started billowing up from the port side of his sub and he quickly changed his tune. "I'm sinking!"

"Come on," Gadget told the others, "We've gotta save him." Chip took a hold of her arm as she began to run towards her submarine and said.

"Forget it, Gadg, there's nothing we can do. That creature out there is no civilised being; that monster out there is not the human he could've been; destroyed by his own devices, without us doing anything to them for once. Let him go, he would've wanted it to be this way." Monty looked at him, bewildered, and said.

"No, he darn-well wouldn't!" They watched as the Nimnul sank closer and closer to the ocean's surface and Gadget suggested.

"We should at least alert the police." To which Chip nodded and looked around for something to use. "There!" Gadget pointed to an object in the sand, Monty went over and pulled out a mobile phone.

"Does it still work?" Dale asked, Gadget went over and tapped a few buttons and said.

"Yep, we can phone the police with this. Someone hand me the megaphone, would you." She began to tap the number for the police station as Chip and Dale carried the megaphone over to her.

"New York police." Spinelli's voice came over the phone. "How can we be of assistance?" Gadget held the megaphone up, turned off the volume enhancer and said.

"Norton Nimnul is sinking in a submarine off the coast." She then gave them a detailed position. "It seems he's been broadcasting pirate radio and there's evidence that he even tried to tow away New York." There was a pause before Spinelli replied.

"That sounds like Nimnul alright. I'll send the boys over, I think the car parts thief has been found." Then he hung up while Gadget turned the mobile off.

"Well Rangers," Chip commented, "It looks like our work here is done."

Nimnul crawled ashore after the effort he put into swimming, he looked at the chain that was all he had left of his latest effort to control New York and made a groan.

"Will you ever learn?" Came a disturbingly familiar voice, Nimnul looked up to see Muldoon and Kirby looking down at him as he lay on his stomach, Nimnul groaned even more now as they handcuffed him and escorted him to their police car.

"Who made the phone call anyway?" Kirby asked Muldoon, who just shrugged and said.

"Who knows? Probably a small potato snitch like you get in some of these mystery novels." They shoved Nimnul into the back of their panda and got in the front, taking him into custody.

"There he goes again." Chip commented from the Rangerwing flying overhead.

"I wonder how long he'll be behind bars this time?" Monty added. "He's in and out of prison more times than a joey is with it's mother's pouch!" The other Rangers nodded as Gadget flew the Wing back to Rescue Ranger HQ.

The End.


End file.
